The Visual Component Library (VCL) provides various built-in classes to perform file processing. Most of the features are provided through the
TFileStream class. To perform file streaming using this class, first declare its instance using its constructor whose syntax is:

__fastcall TFileStream(const AnsiString FileName,
Word Mode);

The first argument of this constructor is the name (or path) of the file you are dealing with. If the file does not exist or it cannot be accessed (opened or saved) for any reason, the compiler would throw an error and stop the action.

The second action, Mode, specifies what you are trying to do with the file.

The TFileStream class is conceptually designed to deal with the contents of one or more controls. Therefore, instead of concerning yourself with the values of controls,
TFileStream would consider the change that affect a control on behalf of the user, which mostly is its contents. When saving a file,
TFileStream faithfully gets the contents of all controls as you wish and saves them in one file. If opening a file,
TFileStream locates the content of each file and restores it. Based on this,
TFileStream is appropriate for VCL objects and usually its files should not mixed with
non-VCL controls.

Saving Controls Contents

In order to save the contents of controls, first declare a pointer to
TFileStream using its constructor and specify where the file would be saved. You can specify this path directly in the constructor if you know exactly where the file should be located. This can be done if you are writing a program that stores the default file at a specific location and you know where the file should be saved. Otherwise, you can use the SaveDialog control to let the user specify where to save the file.

When saving a file, the Mode argument of the constructor can be passed as one of the following constants:

Write Mode

Description

fmCreate

If the user is saving a new file, this is used to save it as new

fmOpenWrite

This is used to save a file as new. If the file was previously saved and reopened, this mode would erase its previous contents and fill it with the new data

fmOpenReadWrite

If the file already existed, this can be used to save a file that has been modified. Otherwise it can be used to create a new file

When it is possible that other people or application would try accessing the same file at the same time, the following constants can be used to manage the sharing of files:

Share Mode

Description

fmShareExclusive

Only the current application can access the file

fmShareDenyWrite

The file can be opened by other applications but they cannot modify its contents

fmShareDenyRead

The file can be modified by other applications but they cannot open it

fmShareDenyNone

There is no restriction on what the other applications can do with the current file

To combine these two mode for the Mode argument, you use the bitwise OR operator |

Imagine you create a form equipped with a Memo and an Edit controls:

Here is an example of saving the contents of both controls to a file:

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------
void __fastcall TForm1::btnSaveClick(TObject *Sender)
{
// Decalre a pointer to TFileStream
TFileStream *FStream;
// Let the user call the Save Dialog
if( SaveDialog1->Execute() )
{
// Use the constructor of the TFileStream to create a file
try {
FStream = new TFileStream(SaveDialog1->FileName, fmCreate);
// In the pointer to FStream, add the contents of the Memo
FStream->WriteComponent(Memo1);
// and the content of the Edit controls
FStream->WriteComponent(Edit1);
}
__finally
{
// Since the pointer was created, delete it,
// whether it was used or not
delete FStream;
}
}
}
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Loading Controls Contents

When saving the contents of controls using TFileStream, the file is arranged so the class can locate data for each object. Based on this, you can use
TFileStream to open a file that was created with this class. To do this, once again, declare a pointer to
TFileStream and initialize the file using the constructor. If you already know where the file is located, you can simply provide it to the constructor. Otherwise, you can use the Open dialog box and let the user select the file.

When opening a file, you can use one of the following modes as the Mode argument:

Read Mode

Description

fmOpenRead

This is used to open a file but the user cannot modify and then save it.

fmOpenReadWrite

This allows opening an existing file, modifying, and saving it.

You can combine this mode with one of the above share modes using the bitwise OR operator. Here is an example from the same above form design: